Nikkei May Extend Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 370 points or 1 percent. The Nikkei 225 now rests just shy of the 36,820-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on bargain hunting and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the former lead.

The Nikkei finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology stocks and financial shares, while the automobile producers were mixed.

For the day, the index added 25.98 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 36,819.09 after trading between 36,658.86 and 36,956.33.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor added 0.61 percent, while Mazda Motor sank 0.81 percent, Toyota Motor rose 0.25 percent, Honda Motor eased 0.14 percent, Softbank Group dropped 0.82 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial jumped 1.95 percent, Mizuho Financial spiked 2.40 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial rallied 2.38 percent, Mitsubishi Electric surged 6.30 percent, Sony Group accelerated 3.60 percent, Panasonic Holdings soared 3.70 percent and Hitachi strengthened 1.68 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday before dipping and then rebounding to finally end mixed.

The Dow sank 82.55 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 41,350.93, while the NASDAQ rallied 212.35 points or 1.22 percent to close at 17,648.45 and the S&P 500 gained 27.23 points or 0.49 percent to end at 5,599.30.

The early strength on Wall Street followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased slightly less than expected in February.

The tamer-than-expected inflation data led to some optimism about the Federal Reserve resuming interest rate cuts in the near future.

Buying interest was somewhat subdued, however, as concerns about the impact of new trade policies continue to weigh on the markets.

Oil prices moved higher on Wednesday after data showed a smaller than expected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $1.43 or 2.16 percent at $67.68 a barrel.